Lost and Found
by AnnaR5
Summary: Kendra has been struggling with her past choices and the disappearance of Bracken, believing it to be her fault. Kendra flees Wyrmroost in hope of finding a happier way to live. With the help of some old friends will she be able to make things perfect and balance her new normals or will she become overwhelmed trying?
1. Sorrow

**Yet another story I probably don't finish lol. Maybe I'll go give crappy endings to some of them. I'm actually really in love with this story and hope you guys enjoy it as well. It goes without saying everyone is OOC just like with all my stories. I have several other Fablehaven Fanfics as well if you would like to check them out. I think most of them are finished (because they're mostly oneshots) but I'm really not sure.**

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Kendra Sorenson starred out her bedroom window, looking out upon the hidden dangers of the dragon sanctuary, Wrymroost. The land was amazing, and as she spent  
more time in the secret preserve, the more she began to hate it.

It had been five months of relative peace. Five months without a disturbance from Celebrant, the Dragon King, or his cronies. Five months since anyone had  
last heard from Bracken or Agad.

After Soaring Cliffs fell to the dragons no one had made any contact with the two. Agad, the wizard who had taken over as caretaker, had seemingly vanish. And  
all that was left of Bracken, who had gone to fight the dark unicorn Ronodin, was his first horn that Kendra kept in her possession.

She stared at the pearly white horn, only the size of a dagger , and her mind drifted of to the unicorn. Where was he? Was he hurt? Had he been captured yet  
again?

Bracken was extremely resourceful. The Fairy Queen constantly told Kendra that she hade nothing to worry about. Her son was a skilled warrior and the most  
qualified for the job of ridding the world of the darkened unicorn, but Kendra's mind always strayed to the years Bracken spent in the dungeon of the Living Mirage  
and how he was unable to escape. No matter how much reassurance she received, she couldn't help but fret.

Kendra wished she could be out there looking for Bracken, but when she and her little brother Seth became co-caretakers of Wrymroost they became bound to the  
preserve for a year, only leaving for short amounts of time, unless Celebrant, who ran the preserve along with the two siblings, allowed for a replacement caretaker.  
However, this would never occur for may reasons, a big one being that Kendra publicly humiliated the dragon king in front of all the people who respected him.  
Her hand brushed along the sides of the horn and she sighed. 'Bracken,' she said in her mind, 'can you hear me?'

Just like the past five months she received no answer. She held back her tears. Why couldn't anything in her life be simple? She already got stuck fighting  
the demons, and now the dragons? It wasn't fair. She just wished that it could all be over already, She would find Bracken and he would give her the kiss she had been  
waiting for. But her life was a rollercoaster that never seemed to end.

There was a loud knock on her door and Kendra internally groaned. She hated visitors, she had recently been keeping to herself unless there was an urgent need  
to be around the others.

"Come in."

Seth bounced into her room, happy as ever. Kendra prepared for him to shout excitedly in her face.

"Kendra! Guess what!"

"What," she said in annoyance.

"Some dragons are arguing down by the mountain peak and we need to go settle it!"

She rolled her eyes. "Can't I go by myself? I can do it a lot quicker without your opinions getting in my way."

Seth's excitement faltered a little as he spoke, "Stronger together, right? Besides, co-caretakers, remember? Listen to the prefixes. I thought you were  
smarter than this!"

She sighed, "Go away Seth, I'll meet you in the stables when I'm ready."

"Whatever," he mumbled as he walked away and slammed the door on his way out.

Kendra fell back on her bed when the loud noise was over. She didn't mean to be rude to her little brother, but lately she became a lot less patient than  
she normally was. Though she realized this herself, she couldn't stop saying things she didn't entirely mean in the heat of the moment. The tears came again, and  
this time she wasn't able to hold them back.

About half an hour later Kendra was finally able to get out of her bed. She made her way down to the stables, ignoring as many people as possible along the  
way. She reached her destination, to find Seth pacing around near the Griffins.

"Seriously Kendra? It's been almost an hour! They dragons could have killed each other by now!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Kendra responded trying to sound as sincere as possible.

"What the hell is going on with you?"

"Hey," She snapped, "Don't talk like that. It's disrespectful. And you're only fourteen."

"You're only sixteen and we run a dragon preserve for heaven sake! I think you and I both can handle a little profanity."

"Whatever Seth, come on, you're wasting time."

They both picked out there griffins and took flight towards the mountain peak. Being with magical creatures is the only time Kendra has felt like herself in  
the past months. Flying on the griffin she could forget everything and focus on the wind blowing her hair behind her, she could let herself go. Bracken, Agad,  
Wyrmroost, Fablehaven, and the nightmares left her brain. She was free for a few moments.

Then, like they always do, the griffins landed, and reality came swirling back.

Kendra and Seth dismounted the large creatures, and she immediately saw the two dragons. They walked against the crunchy terrain. As they approached the dragons  
Kendra was able to get a closer look at the beasts.

She first noticed the smaller reddish-maroon colored one, with wings that looked to be twice the size of it's body. Spikes covered it's gorgeous back in an  
intimidating, yet fascinating way.

The larger dragon was a yellow-green dragon. To Kendra it must of been one of the least intimidating dragons she had ever seen. Tiny wings, no spike what  
so ever, and purple dots covering its entire body.

They reached the dragons mid conversation. "They don't deserve to have you mucking up their lives!" the yellow-green dragon shouted.

"Well," the red dragon responded, " if their mother wasn't the weakest dragon in this prison, maybe I wouldn't need to be here to protect them."

"Woah, woah, woah, we all need to calm down," Seth spoke confidently out against the dragons. "What seems to be the problem?"

"Did you call the Caretakers in, Nimira?" the red dragon asked. "Goodness grief I can't believe you!"

The yellow-green dragon, whose name was apparently Nimira responded, "Of course I did. Rather we get this settled instead of Celebrant coming down to punish  
us for causing a disturbance like he did to Alcoza and Obora."

"You're ridiculous," the unnamed red dragon concluded to himself.

"I feel I'm the only sane one in this situation!"

"Okay!" Kendra shouted, attempting to end the argument. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"My ex-mate here, Ugoto, seems to believe I'm going to be an unfit mother to our hatchlings, when I have been here protecting them everyday while he's been  
off running around with some nymph!" Nimira angrily stated.

"Well maybe I wouldn't need the nymph if you didn't nag .time."

"Custody battle between dragons," Seth said under his breath, "This is a first."

Kendra elbowed him in his chest before shouting up to the dragons, "If you two can't decide then I will. You both will have fifty-fifty visiting time with  
the hatchlings. The matter will be open for change if, and only if, I'm contacted a month after they hatch. That is my final decision at this point in the time."  
She dragged Seth, his hand in hers, back to the stationed griffins, leaving both dragons in shock. Seth stomped angrily when he could. Finally, once they  
were out of sight from the dragons, he angrily shook his hand off of hers.

"What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what?" Kendra matched his furious tone of voice.

"You made that decision without hearing what I had to say, or, the most important part, what they had to say!"

"If I didn't make that decision, we would have been stuck there for hours."

"It doesn't matter! We should have made that decision together!"

Kendra got on her griffin and rolled her eyes. "Be honest with yourself, Seth. Your comments would have been the main reason it would have taken so long in the  
first place." She dusted off some dirt from the **griffins** head ,and leaned down to whisper her destination in his ear. Then, she looked back up at Seth. "I'll see you  
back at The Keep." She and the griffin took off in the air, leaving her brother before he even had the chance to get on his.

Though she had told her brother she would see him back at Blackwell Keep, she had a different plan in mind. The griffin soared through the air, past mountains  
and rivers, and her favorite: scorched plots of land.

She flew on the back for several minutes before spotting her secret spot; a cave in the back of the biggest mountain of the entire sanctuary of Wrymroost.  
It has her sanctuary. The place she often went when she didn't want to be around anybody. The place she came to cry. The place she came to be selfish for once in her  
life.

She hopped off her griffin and pet her head. Griffins were known to be extremely proud creatures, but after five months, this one had finally warmed up to  
Kendra. "It's alright, Taieka. We'll only be here for a little while." The griffin nodded her head.

Kendra left the griffin and headed deeper in the cave. Cobwebs stuck to her skin like leeches, but by now she was far to use to it. Rocks crunched beneath her  
feet and almost broke through her shoes. Sometimes, they did, and she didn't mind it that much. Often, she deliberately took them off. It would sometimes leave her  
feet scarred for weeks at time.

Kendra walked for about five minutes down the corridor when she finally reached her chamber. Over the months Kendra had stocked it with everything she could  
possibly need incase she wanted to disappear for a while. A homemade mattress, made from feathers and sheets she had torn up and sewed together. On top was a blanket  
she would never admit she had kept from her childhood. A cabinet full of food, matches and water. Buckets...for...using. A number of drawing utensils, for it had  
become a habit of hers to cover the walls, and finally, he favorite of all, hidden in a place where no light shown was bottle among bottle of alcohol she had stolen  
from the cabinets not only from Wry roost, but Fablehaven as well.

She walked over to her 'stash' and grabbed a bottle of something, she didn't really care what, and took a gulp. It burnt all the way down her throat. She  
smiled at the feeling. She grabbed a few more bottle and made her way over to her bed. There she drank the bottles, one by one until she wasn't herself anymore.

* * *

 **Thanks for the read!**


	2. Big Lies

**Two chapter one day. Hey! I got to draw you all in somehow. I am actually in love with this story you don't even understand. I started this the moment I finished Dragonwatch and the story full layout of the story finally came to me today! EEEEKKKK!**

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Kendra woke up with a killer headache. Sitting up, she put her hand on her head and opened her eyes. Immediatley, she realized she wasn't at her santuary  
anymore, but at the Keep, in her bed.

Kendra freaked out.

"Wha... How did I get here?"

"Seth found you."

Kendra jumped out of her bed in shock. She hadn't seen Warren in her room.

"What are you doing in here?"

"Like I said, Seth found you in your cave thingy ,drunk off your ass. He was scared ,so he came and got me. Luckily, I was at Fablehaven or else he would have  
had to gone to your grandparents, or worse, Vanessa," Warren said.

"He wasn't supposed to follow me," Her voice quivered as she spoke and her eyes began to water.

He softly smiled at her. He walked over to her bed and layed down next to her. She immediately laid her head on his chest and began to cry.

"Why didn't you come to me Kens if you were having such a hard time? You know I wouldn't have made you do anything you didn't want to. I wouldn't have  
forced you to tell your parents," Warren's voice cracked as he spoke.

"Because I chose this life, and now I have to deal with the consequences."

"Bracken will be back, Kendra. You didn't choose for him to get taken."

"This isn't about him," she sobbed, "I don't want to live like this anymore."

"Oh Kendra," Warren grabbed her and squeezed her tight, "this isn't your fault."

She cried for what seemed like hours and he held her and cried a little bit too. She wasn't okay, she wasn't okay in the slightest, but with a shoulder to cry  
on she felt like maybe it would get a little better. She lost that shoulder when she lost Bracken all of those months ago.

"Seth told your parents," Warren spoke after she seemed to have calmed down a little.

Her mouth fell open. "What?"

"He was scared. He told me he found you and your feet were all bloody and scarred. You were past out drunk and were barely breathing. He didn't know what to  
do. When he couldn't find them last night he came to me. I told him to let me handle it first, but he thought they should know. I didn't try to stop him. I didn't have  
to go through the feeling of thinking something was wrong and then show up at the scene of the crime. All I did was calm him down, clean you up, and then stay in here  
with you. He had no idea what is going on with you. I can't imagine what was going through his brain."

"No no no no. This can't be happening. Warren they're going to take away the only thing that helps me forget. How could you let them do this? Oh my gosh, my  
life is completly falling apart!"

"You're alcohol, Kendra? I know its hard right now," he reached up and wiped a tear off of her cheek, "but we are going to work this out, together. You have  
so many people in your life that care about you."

"There is too much going on," she whispered. "Can't you see that? I don't want people wasting time on me. We need to focus on the sanctuary and keeping  
Celebrant at bay. My problems are my own."

"You aren't a waste of time! Believing that is what got you into this mess. Things will get better," he lifted her chin and smiled at her, "Now, would you  
like to go sort this out with everyone?

"Do I really have a choice?"

"You always have a choice. But I really think this is what's best for you. You can come out and talk about it, or you can pretend that it never happened and  
keep stealing from the liquor cabinets every time your stash get confiscated.

"Both sound equally unappealing," Kendra muttered.

"You know, there was a time I actually was going through something similar to you. You know Vanessa and I had a fling when we were much younger. It was my  
first out of country mission for the Knights. We were assigned to go to Spain to scope out potential traitorous activity in one of the preserves there. We were there  
for months and a romantic relationship began. We fell in love almost instantly. We did everything together. I trusted her with my heart an I gave her everything I  
had in me. I thought she felt the same, but once our mission was done she ended it. I was so confused and completly heartbroken. I had convinced myself I had done  
something wrong, and it was my fault she wasn't around. I now had to go through this hetic world without a partner. Now that I had shared the experience with someone.  
I didn't want to go back to not having a shoulder to cry on when it got stressful. So I turned to alcohol to forget, but eventually I was able to turn myself around.  
Don't turn into me, Kendra. I know you're hurting because of Bracken, but-"

"I already told you, this isn't about him," she said while gritting through her teeth.

"I think you're trying to convince yourself of that, Kendra, but I know you blame yourself. You think you were distracting him while he was doing something  
important, and that's why he's gone. You are trying to play down how you really feel. He wouldn't want that. He would want you to be happy, so you need to go out  
there and accept the help they are offering, okay."

Tears swirled in Kendra's eyes. For months she had been keeping it inside. She should have known better than to think that Warren couldn't see right through  
her. He had seen her upset so many times before.

"I'd never felt him be anything,but soft and kind with me. When he spoke into my mind that last time, I could feel his stress. It was like he was torn between  
what I was facing and what he was facing. He tried to choose me and that's why he is gone."

Tears continued to pour down her face, and he reached up with a soft smile and wiped them.

"You don't know that's what happened."

She let out a sob as a response. Warren pulled the younger girl into him yet again and let her sat there as she cried harder than she ever had before  
and he stayed and comforted her, often whispering encouraging things in her ear. Kendra didn't know how she had survived so long without a public breakdown. For so  
long she had locked her feelings up, and it felt so good to have someone who understood her without her having to explain.

"Are you ready to go face them? They love you, and want have your best interest at heart."

"I guess. This is what he would want," she sniffed. "This is what's best for me."

He smiled and brushed a strand of hair that was wet from her tears from her face. Some might see that action as romantic, but the two through the years had  
grown a very strong friendship, that was close to unbreakable.

"Everyone tried their best to stay at the Keep today. Everyone should be here now."

"Okay," She said weekly.

Warren left her to get herself cleaned up, and presentable. She stood in front of her mirror and stared at her puffy, bulging eyes. She could do this. She  
could face her family. They'd always been there for her before, right? She then thought of her grandparents, and panicked. Oh how disappointed they would be when  
they found out she had been stealing from them, let alone alcohol. Grandpa Sorenson was probably going to be very angry with her. She couldn't go out there and face  
him! No way! She began to breathe very quickly.

"Warren!" she called out.

He came rushing in her room and saw her panicked state. He gently grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"Breathe, Kendra. That's it, in and out."

"I can't face them. I stole from them Warren! Grandpa Sorenson is going to be so angry!"

"Kendra, no one is mad at you, not Stan, not anyone. Now why don't you come out and we can all talk. Okay?"

She nodded her head, regaining some of her confidence. It was now or never. She could poke holes in anything. But she had to do this, for herself, and for  
Bracken.

Together, they walked into the main living space where everyone was seated. Kendra tried her best not to meet anyone's eye and instead opted to stare right  
at the large grandfather clock place on the center wall. She sat down and waited for someone to speak. That didn't happen for what felt like hours.

"Kendra..." her father finally spoke, "we've set up a meeting with Celebrant tomorrow morning."

"Celebrant? Kendra questioned. "Why?"

"The Knights of Dawn have a special consular for the members that have gone through tramatic experiences. Since Celebrant is a co-caretaker all three of you  
must agree that the visitor is welcome. Unfortunetly, you embarrassed Celebrant severly just six months ago, and he doesn't often let go of grudges."

"He's not going to allow it, Kendra said. "So what the point of even asking. Either way this therapist, yes you can call it a therapist, will probably just  
be a spy, trying to use our weaknesses against us. You don't actually trust this guy, do you Grandpa?"

"Celebrant wants what is best for this sanctuary. I believe we have a good chance he will agree to it. Especially if you wants something, which he always does."

"Hopefully, the price isn't too steep," Warren spoke, "but we are willing to give up anything for you Kens."

"No," Kendra sternly spoke, "I will not allow him to play us like that. Especially not or someone I don't know, and probably can't trust. It is just not worth  
it."

"I have known this man since he joined the Knights when he was seventeen, Kendra. He is not going to hurt you, or this family. If he was a traitor he would  
have joined the Society when it rose when he had years and years of inforation to share."

"You and I both know, the Society still has members in the Knights." She said, he voice dipping dangerously low.

"I've had enough of this," her mother said, near tears. "You are going to that meeting and asking for permission." She leaned into Kendra's father's sweatshirt  
and let out a sob. Kendra barely heard the words that next came out of Marla's mouth. "I wish we never went on that damn cruise." Her father rubbed her mother's back  
and kissed her forehead. Kendra looked away.

"You all are just going to be disappointed when it doesn't work out," she said. "I'm stuck here for another six months."

"We'll figure out something!" Seth finally spoke. "And it's five and a half moths actually."

Kendra tried to smile at her baby brother, but her heart wasn't in it. She couldn't shake the feeling of betrayl that came when she saw his face.  
"Thanks, Seth," she forced out.

"Family has always got your back. That's why I'm trying to help. Okay, Kendra?"

"Got it," but she wasn't sure she believed him.

* * *

 **Thanks for the read!**


	3. Mr Tough Guy

Kendra groaned when she felt the weight of her bed shift. She rolled over and cracked her sleepy eyes open. There bouncing his stupid weight on the bed was  
Warren.

"Leave me alone," Kendra groaned and buried her head in her pillow.

"You're meeting with Celebrant in an hour. You need to get up"

"No," and she fell back to sleep.

About five minutes later, Kendra screamed. Ice cold water flowed down her back. Her bed was soaked and an ice cube had fallen down her night shirt. She sat up  
quickly. Vanessa and Warren stood at the edge of her bed giggling to each other. Kendra glared at them.

"Kid, I tried to tell you nicely to get up."

"Doesn't mean you have to pour water on me! I would have gotten up eventually!"

"You can't be late for this meeting," Vanessa said, "you'll end up making him more mad."

"I can handle, Mr. Tough guy," she said. "Well now I have to go take a warm shower. I'm freezing. Better hope I don't take too long."

"It's on you if you're late. You and Seth are the only ones going."

Kendra stopped, "What?"

"He didn't want any supervision. We have to go on his wishes."

"Like hell we do!" Kendra exclaimed. "He has something planned."

"We figured, " Vanesa started, "So we bugged Seth and now we can hear the conversation."

"This is going to be so fun." Kendra said sarcastically.

Kendra rushed herself and was able to leave on time. Before her and Seth left Grandpa Sorenson sat down with them and told them to give in to Celebrants first  
demand and they would deal with it. It was better to keep the meeting quick than to have to bargain for hours about a deal that benefits both sides. Grandpa Sorenson  
wanted it to be in and out. Kendra agreed at that moment, but she wasn't sure what she would actually do at the meeting. She knew for sure that she wouldn't let  
Celebrant put her friends' and family's life in danger, or risk the Sanctuary.

"Once out of the meeting," Grandpa Sorenson began, "I can have my friend here in less than three hours, so make it quick. We want to you Kendra better as soon  
as possible."

Kendra rolled her eyes. She understood they thought they were doing what was best for her, but this didn't seem like it was going to work.

Kendra and Seth were soon able to head to the meeting place on time. Unfortunately the King of the Dragons decided to casually show up late. Kendra wasn't even  
allowed to be mad about it. Stupid entitled jerk.

It wasn't until half an hour past the meeting time that Mr. Tough Guy decided to show up.

"How delightful," his voice boomed, "the princess needs a favor."

She felt Seth squeeze her hand. He was scared, she could tell, but she didn't know why. She guessed it was in fear of what Celebrant was about to ask of them.  
"We need you to give permission to allow a visitor into Wrymroost," Kendra called up to him.

"And why would I do that? Why would I do anything for you?" he spit out his words like Kendra was the most disgusting vermin he had ever laid eyes on.  
"We are willing to offer you something," Seth blurted out, "What do you want?"

Kendra internally groaned. Stupid, stupid Seth. She never expected him to say that. She thought he was better than that.

"You're looking to bribe me? Well you know what I really want is for you pests to get out of my sanctuary."

Kendra saw Seth open his mouth, about to speak. Panicking, she dropped his hand. She was terrified he was about to agree. She would not allow that to happen.  
She stared at her brother. His face instantly became covered with fear, when she dropped his hand. She turned back and faced Celebrant.

"You know that is not what we want. Make this easy on all of us, and allow the visitor."

The dragon grinned sickly. "How do I know this visitor is wanting access to Wrymroost to destroy me and my kin? It is too risky."  
Kendra sighed, "The visitor is a Knight of Dawn that specializes in working around traumatic experiences. I  
can't leave so he must come here."

Celebrant's laugh boomed for miles. "The feared Kendra Sorenson not so strong after all. I will take pity on you and allow this visitor. Only because when I  
destroy you, I want at least some challenge."

* * *

"You told me you've known him since he was seventeen!" Kendra shouted at her grandfather.

"I have," Grandpa Sorenson responded. "I don't see the problem here."

She looked at the Knight. "He's like twenty-six!"

The young man wasn't anything special. His facial features were neither attractive or not. He's dark brown eyes and hair didn't stand out at all, and his  
olive skin had many imperfections. Maybe she was just used to unicorns and demon princes in their human forms.

The knight held out his hand for Kendra. "I am Mitchell," he said, "and I can assure you, I am qualified for this job, despite my age."

"Just give it a shot," her grandpa said, as he headed to the door of the study nook. He shut the door on his way out.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Mitchell asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders and moved to the chair that was set up across from him.

"It's to my understanding that you have had a rough past couple of years."

She rolled her eyes, "That's an understatement."

"Well let's talk about what happened earlier today with you and your brother."

Kendra's heart instantly filled with guilt. Seth hadn't been himself even after Celebrant had left. Kendra had to drag him back to the keep. She could tell  
everyone was angry with her, but they were too afraid to yell at her. She was okay with that. She had felt bad enough without their input. As far as she knew, Seth was  
still sleeping soundly in his bed, just like he had been a few hours ago.

"Look, I don't need you to guilt me. I already feel bad enough."

Mitchell sat up straighter in his seat, and stared at her right in the eyes. She wanted to squirm, but she held her ground.

"How old are you, Kendra?"

"I'll be seventeen in a couple months. What does this have to do with anything?"

"You're the older sister. You are very different from your brother. He sees this world as an epic dream. He can fight demons and dragons and become a hero.  
It's all he has ever wished for. But you, you're different. You see this world how everyone should, but sadly don't. It's dangerous, and some risk should not be taken.  
You feel overwhelmed with tasks and you feel like you have to fix things. You had someone you thought could support you, but he's gone now. You've put so much on your  
shoulders, that no seventeen year old could hold up. So you turned to the alcohol and you isolated yourself, so you wouldn't bother anyone because they had their own  
problems, and that is why we are here today.

She sniffed, "So it's my fault, then?"

Mitchell smiled softly at her, " You didn't do anything intentionally. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Kendra. That is why you let go of  
Seth's hand. You were afraid he was going to mess things up. You need to know that you need help. You can't do it on your own."

"How do you know so much about me?"

"You're everywhere, Kendra Sorenson. And I also did a little research just like I always do."

"If I don't do it then how do I know anybody will?"

"Have faith, Kendra! Hope that things will be alright. You have to accept that some things are out of your control."

She stared at the floor. She wanted to come up with some excellent retort that would make him choke on his words, but she just couldn't think of one. So she  
stayed silent, and he did as well, for several minutes. She could feel him studying her, his eyes felt like they were burning a hole through her, but she still held  
her silence. She would not give in. Finally he gave in.

"Here is what we're going to do. My office is the only place where I can prescribe and get you some medication. Tomorrow you'll talk to Celebrant and get  
permission to leave Wrymroost, for a day, or two days tops. You and one of your guardians will come with me, and I can prescribe something to you. We'll get you back  
here and in no time you'll be feeling better."

"I don't need medication! No way! And besides, Celebrant would never agree to let me leave. It's part of my terms as co-caretaker."

Mitchell gathered his stuff up, and stood. "Make him then. I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Sorenson."

"I'm not going!" She yelled at him as he walked through the doorway.

"We'll see. Have a good night."

The door closed, and Kendra slouched in her chair.

* * *

 **The action begins next chapter. (Not really){*The set up for the action starts next chapter}**

 **Thanks for the read.**


	4. The Great Escape

Kendra felt her mother's eyes on her as she faced out the car window. Kendra sensed that her mother wanted to say something to her. She wished she just would. Kendra  
hated this akaward tension.

"Mom, if you want to say something, go ahead."

Her mother sighed and waited a moment before responding. "How did it get this bad, Kendra? I still don't understand."

Kendra looked down at her hands and began to pick at her nails. She honestly didn't have an answer. Had she always felt like this? Or had it begun when Bracken  
went missing? No no, surely this wasn't all about a boy. But then again, Bracken was the one person she felt understood completely. As cliché as it sounded she had come  
to rely on that over time.

"I think it was always this way, Mom, but when I lost the person I could talk to, it kind of just stayed in my head, just screaming to get out."

"Oh honey, you could've talked to any of us. You shouldn't have left it up to a boy to make you happy!"

"I wasn't unhappy, Mom."

Marla shook her head, "I just don't get it."

Kendra let out a puff of breath, "Exactly, that is why I went to him, because he gets me."

Marla arched her eyebrow at her before flicking her eyes back to the road. "What exactly did you guys talk about?"

"Just how we were feeling mostly."

"Has he kissed you?

Kendra's cheeks heated and her eyes widened, "What? No! Mom!"

Her mother chuckled a little, "So what exactly have you done with him?"

Kendra looked down at her lap in embarrassment. "Just the normal stuff."

"What's 'the normal stuff'?"

"Can we just stop talking bout this mom?"

Her mom laughed, "Yes we are almost there anyway."

Her mother pulled into a parking lot of a small office building in the middle of absolutely no where. Her mom parked the car and shut off the engine. Marla  
turned to look at her.

"Are you ready for this?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Kendra replied.

They got out of the car and Kendra made it her mission to move as slowly as possible. As soon as they made it inside of the building, an overwhelming smell  
of lavender came over her. She almost gaged at how strong it was. She checked in ,and the two woman sat in hard plastic chairs while they waited. Marla shifted through  
a magazine to pass the time. Finally, after almost an eternity did her name get called.

"Ms. Sorenson?" She recognized Kalman's voice from a few days ago. She scowled.

She stood up and he smiled at her and shook her mother's hand.

"Right this way, ladies."

He led them to a very modern, office type of space and motioned for them to sit in the two chairs that were parallel to him. They did and he began to speak.  
"It's good to see you again Kendra. I was glad to see that you were able to make arrangements to come."

"Thanks."

He clapped his hands together "Unfortunately we don't have much time together. Our session is going to be about an hour and a half. In that time I'm going to  
need to talk to you with your guardian, one on one, and talk to your mother alone to see what type of medication she see best fit for you. I'd like to begin immediately,  
so should we jump right in?"

"Sure," Kendra said.

"Alright. In the last couple days Kendra, you've been able to stay away from your triggers, correct? You've had no association with alcohol or attempted to  
harm yourself in anyway?"

"That is correct," She spoke mindlessly. All she could really focus on was getting out of here as fast as possible.

"You haven't had any thoughts about ending your life? Both in the past seventy two hours, and in the past six months?"

"Um," Kendra was afraid to speak in front of her mom. "Well not in the past few days, but yes in the past months I have."

She saw her mother's face shape into an 'O'. "Kendra-"

"Ms. Sorenson, this is not an uncommon thought for those who have faced loses, or come out of traumatic experiences. What we are trying to do now is ensure  
that Kendra never feels this way again. Or if she does she has an outlet to discuss her frustrations."

Rather than making eye contact with her mother or Kalman she chose to stare out the floor. She got lost in her thoughts. She did not want to be here. How was  
this supposed to help her? Medication seemed more like brainwash than an actual way to recover.

"Kendra? Are you listening?" Kalman's voice entered in her ears.

"Huh?"

For about twenty more minutes they talked before Kendra's mother was excused from the room. For another forty-five minutes she sat and mindlessly talked to  
Kalman until finally he excused himself to go chat with her mother. Kendra sat with her eyes closed for a few minutes. When she opened them she noticed that her mom's  
car keys were on the floor. They must have fallen out of her purse. She got up and grabbed them off the ground and held them in her hand.

She glanced over at the window and began walking over to it. No screen. She shook her head, this was too easy. She popped the window opened and pulled it up  
without much strain.

She glanced quickly at the door. If she was caught, she would be in so much trouble. Her entire family would hate her, not to mention Celebrant might go  
crazy with anger. But she needed a break. She needed to do something that didn't involve stupid dragons. She wanted to find her bestfriend.  
She needed to stop think about the consequences! She was going to do something for herself for once!

She looked at the door one last time. "I'm sorry Mama."

She boosted herself up on Mitchell Kalman's bookshelf and accidentally kicked a picture frame off the top. She ignored it and hopped out the window.  
As soon as she stepped on the ground she bolted to the car. She was shaking by the time she reached it. She tried pressing the unlock button on the keys but  
dropped them before she could.

"Dammit!," She whispered and bent down to pick them up. She took a calming deep breath before she got in the car and turned it on.  
Kendra wasn't the most experienced driver. She had only recently gotten her license and had not yet driven on the freeway. Her nerves weren't helping her  
skills either. As she backed up and got on the road she felt herself began to calm. As she got farther and farther away her worries began to lessen.  
She realized she wouldn't be able to keep the car for long. No doubt, her mom would report her and her license plate to the police. She decided no to worry  
about that now. She would figure out a way.

After about half an hour later her phone blew up with calls and texts from her mom. Soon after everyone decided to join in on the fun. At a stoplight she  
shut her phone off. She decided at her next stop she would throw it away. She wouldn't need a phone for the time being.

After about two hours Kendra found herself quite hungry. She came up upon a small town and decided to get out and stretch.

To be honest, Kendra had been hopeful that she would have the opportunity to get away during the outing to Kalman's office. She doubted it would happen, but  
no the less she packed three days worth of clothes, and her entire life savings of five hundred dollars. She knew she probably wasn't going to get anywhere but locked  
away in her room for the rest of her life. At least would have tried to do something more though.

She pulled up into a deli parking lot and tossed her phone in the garbage can by the door. She couldn't stay here much longer than just grabbing a bite to eat.  
She didn't want anyone tracking the phone.

She opened the deli door and took a seat. A nice middle aged waitress came up and provided a menu. Kendra smiled at her. She ordered and received her food  
without incident ,but couldn't help feel like there were eyes on her. She scanned the room and saw a girl about her age. Both their eyes popped wide open. Kendra  
shoved the rest of her sandwich in her mouth. She needed to get out of that place as fast as she could!

"Check please!" She yelled. Her waitress was a few tables down and huffed at her. Kendra tapped her foot impatiently.

It was too late. The girl moved over to her table and sat across from her. Kendra averted her eyes.

"Kendra?"

She slowly turned to look at her. "Yes?"

The girl was deathly pale. "Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

* * *

 **I don't like how dark this is right now. It's not attractive for a relatively happy fandom. XD It didn't take me that long to update. Only like sixty days! Hey I've been going to school for four weeks now. Yeah that's right! I started in July! Also random fact- My birthday is exactly three weeks from today. Anyway...thanks for the read.**

 **P.S- Does anyone actually read this? XD**


	5. Sarah

**Hi I'd just like to say the red squiggle lines never showed up so there are probably a lot of errors so you're welcome.**

 **Also I started writing this story a year ago and I'm on chapter 5 so yay go me I'm a failure as usual!**

 **Enjoy**

 **Oh also this is kinda dark but idk this story is kinda dark and idk all my stories on here are kinda dark so ya know read at your own risk**

* * *

"Look", Kendra began, "I can explain."

No she couldn't! Why had she said that? It was too late now. The girl came and sat down across from her. Kendra needed to think and fast. What was a lie she could tell  
her?

"Sarah, I ran away." Not a lie, just the version of the truth.

The girl, Sarah, who she had gone to school with for so many years stared at her blankly. She and Sarah hadn't always been the best of friends. There had been  
several arguements between the girls, mostly about Sarah trying to cheat off her homework.

"You ran away and faked your own death?", the girl shook her head, "No I don't believe that. That's not you. What the hell is going on."

Kendra sighed, "Look, Sarah, you don't know me any more and maybe you never really did. I need to get going. I'm sorry if I put you through anything, but I really did  
just run away." Kendra proceeded to pull out fifteen dollars, threw it on the table and began to stand up, however Sarah blocked her.

"I was there, at that funeral, Kendra. That girl was alive and then she died, so you better tell me what the hell is going on before I call the damn police."

Kendra didn't see any way around this. If Sarah called the police she'd 1. get busted for running away and 2. get busted for seemigly faking her own death and pretty  
much changing her identity.

She let out a groan. "Fine, do you have a car? Can we go somewhere. I have to leave mine here. That's another story on top of the vey long one you're forcing me to  
tell you."

Sarah looked a little confused but nodded. "Ya we can head back to my apartment. It's about a ten minute drive. You're not going to try and kill me though, are you?"

Kendra smiled her first real smile in a while and shook her head, "No i won't try and kill you."

The two girls left the little deli. She went back to her moms car for the last time and grabbed all of her belongings out of it. She didn't know what she was going  
to do transportation wise once she went seperate ways with Sarah but she'd figure that out when she got to it.

"You know," Sarah began with a mischevious smile on her face, "If you're running from something and need to ditch the car I have a couple of extra plates in my trunk  
if you want to switch it out. That way you can keep the car for a little while longer."

Kendra liked the idea. She followed behind Sarah's crappy old car into an alley a few blocks away, deserted except for a few stray cats bolting around every now and  
then. Sarah quickly got to work and within a matter of minutes Kendra had a new license plate on her moms car. Sarah chucked the plate in a near by dumpster.

"So," Kendra said, "You just have a pile of liscese plates in the back of your trunk then?"

Sarah pressed her lips together, "Maybe I'm running from somethung too. Although I've been running for so long I wonder if they've stopped looking and I'm doing all  
this work for nothing. Follow me back to my apartment, okay? Don't ditch because I just helped you. Do you have a phone, I'll send you the address."

Kendra shook her head. "No I just threw it away."

"That's fine just stay close to me and if you loose me just pull over and I'll come back and find you. Just don't ditch. If you do-"

"Ya ya If I do you'll call the poice."

Sarah smirked, "I was gonna say f you do I'll skin you alive and feed you to my pet snake but think of it how you like."

"You have a pet snake?"

"No," Sarah grinned, "But I could sure as hell get one."

They both laughed and departed into their seperate cars. Kendra did what Sarah said and followed her closely for about ten minutes until they pulled into some of the  
dumpiest apartments Kendra had ever seen and Kendra had seen some pretty dumpy apartments in her lifetime.

She parked next to Sarah and the girl lead her up a coule flights of stairs until they reached the third floor. As Sarah turned the key Kendra spoke, "This is my time  
to ask if you're going to kill me, chop me up into a million pieces and eat me for dinner."

Sarah laughed and opened the door. The apartment was a lot nicer on the inside than out. It was fairly clean, except for a few beer cans here and there. Some of the  
paint on the walls was chipping and parts of the carpet were stained but overall if this was Kendra's first apartment she wouldn't really complain.

"Do you want a drink," Sarah asked as she went around and picked up some cans, "We have beer, wine coolers, I could mix you up a vodka cranberry."

"We?" Kendra asked.

"Ya, me and my boyfriend. Sorry, do you drink? I should've asked you that first. There's also water if you want it."

"No,I drink. I'll have just straight vodka."

"Straight?," Sarah asked with an arched brow and her lip turned up. "Maybe you have changed quite a bit Sorenson. I like this new, deader, you."

Sarah came back with a couple shots of vodka and together they drank and giggled and laughed until they were all gone. They were both a little tipsy by the time Kendra  
started telling her story. She ended up telling Sarah most of her life story of the past couple years. About Fablehaven, and the demons and the faires. She left most  
of the messy parts out like Gavin, Bracken, her new found depression that she supposedly needed medication for. She ended up stretching the truth a litle and telling  
Sarah she left Wrymroost because she felt trapped and needed to get away. It was almost an accurate story, but it was good enough for both of the girls.

"Wow," Sarah said in aw, "You're kind of a badass. I'm just trying to stay out of the foster care sister, but you- you are really really fucked up." They both disolved  
into a fit of giggles. They ended up just talking about random things forever. Kendra had no clue what time it was, or if she really even cared. For the first time in  
a while she felt truely happy.

"I can't believe you believed me." She breathed out. "I sound crazy."

Sarah couldn't stop herself from laughing. "It's too crazy for anyone to make up. You were never much of the creative type."

"Hey!" Kendra kiddingly protested.

Suddenly there was a bang on the door and both stiffened. Sarah jumped up and it seemed like she had immediatley sobered up.

"Kendra go hide-"

"The door flew open before Sarah could finish her sentence and Kendra dove behind the couch hoping Sarah would do the same thing. However Sarah stood and faced the  
young man that had barged into the apartment clearly high off of whatever drug and drunk off his ass as well.

The man, who she assumed was Sarah's boyfriend would have een cute, but in this intoxicated state was an ugly thing to look at. Kendra wondered if that's what she  
looked like when Seth had found her just a few days ago.

"Sarah," He burped, "You're such a fucking bitch you need to get out of my house. I'm done with you shit. You clean all the time and move all of my stuff. It's there  
for a reason! I put it there! I want it there! You don't give me anything! No sex, no money, just a damn clean house that I don't even want!

"  
"Danny calm down-" She tried to grab his arms in a soothing way but instead he ended up whacking her in the face. She fell to the floor clutching her face. He leaned  
down next to her and began ripping her shirt off. Sarah began to cry to weak to stop what was about to happen.

Kendra couldn't just sit ther. Luckily there was a empty glass beer bottle behind the couch that Sarah had not seen. Kendra picked it up and as quietly as she could  
crawled out from behind the couch and stood up. Sarah was now thrashing around, struggling to get out of Danny's grasp. Tears were pouring down her face. Kendra  
hit the bootle against Danny's head. Glass shattered everywhere and Danny colapsed backward.

Sarah sat up in shock. "Danny?" Her eyes widened when she realized what Kendra had done.

"We have to get you out of here." She said.

"Danny!" Sarah scooted over to him and brushed all the glass out of his hair. Cleaning the blood doing whatever! Kendra didn't know! She just needed to get Sarah out  
of this apartment!

"I knocked him out. He'll be fine. But we need to move so he can't come after us once we've gone."

"I can't leave! I have no where else to go! I can't go back into the system I can't-"

"Sarah!" Kendra grabbed the girls shoulders so she was looking at her. "You're not going back into the system. You are coming with me and that's final. We'll figure  
it out. Grab clothes, money, food, whatever. We just need to leave!"

Danny was already starting to moan on the ground. They needed to move. WIthin five minutes Kendra had Sarah running down the stairs and to the parked cars.  
"It's his car ,we have to take yours! Just let me grab the plates out the back!"

Kendra took Sarah's stuff and threw them in the back seat to join all of her belongings as well. Both girls popped their trunks and transferred the liscense plates  
from one car to another. Sarah shut the trunk to Danny's car and threw the key under the car. Before Kendra knew it she was pulling back onto the highway. She  
knew she couldn't drive long with Sarah sobbing in the seat next to her.

"He's all I have! I don't know what to do! What am I going to do?"

"Sarah just calm down. We're going to stop soon."

"No!" Sarah shouted through her tears. "Just keep driving please."

So Kendra did. She drove until she couldn't stand it anymore.

It was about one o'clock when Kendra finally pulled into a motel parking lot. She had Sarah book the room and she snuck in once she had parked the car. Sarah had  
eventually calmed herself down and for most of the drive they had sat in a mutual sad silence. Kendra figure out that she related a lot more to Sarah than either girl  
even realized. Both had lost something that they may never get back.

The girls fell into a full sized bed together, both exhausted from the day they had. Tomorrow would be better. Tomorrow could only get better.

She wouldn't loose Bracken. No, she had set out on this journey to find him and now she had Sarah to help her a long. She wasn't going to give up. Kendra Sorenson  
never gives up.

"Sarah."

"Ya," The girl sniffled in the dark.

"Stick with me, okay."

"Okay, where are we going to go?"

"Haven't figured that out yet. But one things for sure. It's going to be an adventure."


	6. Owen

"You need a fake ID," Sarah said. It was the next morning and the air was just as melancholy as the night before. "I have a guy. We can head there."

"Sounds good. I need to head to a library after, or just some place with a computer really. That okay?"

Sarah shrugged. The girls proceeded to get ready. Both showered, taking the advantage of the opportunity. Kendra knew they couldn't afford to stay somewhere every night. They needed to save their money for gas and food. They got dressed and collected their few belongings. Downstairs they ate at the complimentary breakfast and checked out. They went back to the car. Sarah said it was probably good to change plates again in case the motel had security cameras. It was about noon when they were finally on the road. Sarah had plugged the address of her friend into her phone. Kendra followed the instructions. They had barely talked since the night before.

Kendra didn't really know what to say.

"They can track your phone you know. I don't know how much longer we can keep it."

"Danny won't come looking for me. He won't go to the police. He was a foster kid too."

"I'm sorry about Danny, by the way," Kendra began, "I know what it's like to lose someone you connect with. I understand."

Sarah scoffed, "Right."

Kendra glanced at her, "What's that supposed to mean."

"How could you understand? You had a perfect life, until what? Fourteen? Up until I was fourteen I was bounced from house to house. Foster parents are never good people. The good ones adopt kids, take care of them through thick and thin. Fosters just want the check. The check that is supposed to be used for you, they end up just using it for themselves. I'd wake up be hit, yelled at, or ignored. Then I'd go to your fancy school and be called the dumb kid, a cheater. I'd go home, and the cycle would just continue. You'd wake up have Mommy and Daddy make you breakfast, help you with your homework and tuck you into bed at night. We both left for a different life. I found Danny he helped me, but he hit me. I was fine with it because I had always been hit. You get to go to this new world, with magic, and fairies and became a hero. It's not fair, because your life was already magical before. So, thanks for the sympathy for Danny. Thanks for getting me out of that messy situation, but don't try to compare yourself to me. You and I are not the same in the slightest. You ran away from home because you had what I'd kill to have. People that care about you."

It was a while before she was able to respond. Kendra sat there for a long time thinking over what Sarah had just said. From what Sarah knew it was an accurate statement of her own life. Maybe she was being selfish. Maybe she was acting like a child. She was probably way in over her head.

"You're right Sarah. I do have people that care about me. But you do too. You have me. I care about you."

Sarah smiled. "Thanks. Now what are we doing? We need a plan. What kind of adventure are you taking me on? The Sarah and Kendra move to the city, change their names, become BFFs and take on the world, or the kickass kind that you told me about."

Kendra smirked, "The kickass kind. You wanted to be a hero. This is your chance."

Sarah shook her head in disbelief. "What the hell are you getting us into."

"I'll tell you after we get this ID. We are just about here."

Kendra pulled into some fancy neighborhood. This wasn't the suburbia Kendra had grown up in. This was high class territory. Kendra followed the directions until they pulled up into the driveway of a beautiful home. The house was an elegant Spanish style home. The garden was extravagant. Better than Fablehaven's even and this was only the front yard. Kendra and Sarah both made their way up the steps towards the front door. Sarah wasn't amazed which gave Kendra the impression she had been here on multiple occasions.

A boy who couldn't be much older than the two of them opened the door before they even knocked. He was a little weird looking, but not unattractive. He was tall and skinny, which was balanced by a round but defined face and a mop of blonde hair that was a mess on top of his head. His clothes and his stature didn't match what Kendra was imagining a person who lived here would look like from the type of house he lived in.

"Who's your friend?" The boy asked suspiciously while he glanced at Kendra up and down.

"Relax Owen, she's not here to snitch. Don't worry by the time we're gone you'll have enough money to buy your Fortnite DLC because Mommy said no when you asked her."

The boy scoffed and rolled his eyes while simultaneously widening the door enough for the two girls to walk inside.

"Don't touch anything, Sarah. Same goes for your friend. Follow me downstairs."

He led the two doors down several long hallways through the Victorian Style house until they reached a thin staircase that led to a door at the end.

"He isn't going to try and murder us, is he?" Kendra whispered to Sarah.

"Owen? No. He doesn't even know how to use a butter knife."

"I'm two feet away! I can hear you guys," Owen said defensively.

"Oh, so you do know how to use a butter nice? Cause I thought all your nannies did that for you?"

"Whatever Sarah. What is this? Your fifteenth time you've come to me for an ID? Don't try to make it seem like I'm some rich kid who can't even wipe his ass cause clearly you need me for something."

Sarah smirked, "Wanted to defend yourself in front of the pretty girl? You've never talked like that to me before."

Owen in his anger against Sarah pushed the basement door open with such rigor it hit the wall behind in and made a load crashing noise. "You know I don't have to help you Sarah! You always come to my house and insult me and I-"

Kendra cut his sentence off, "No, please help us. Or help me. Sarah recommended me to you. I'm the one in trouble and I can't do what I need to do without you. So please."

Owen glanced back and forth between the two girls and sighed. He glanced down for a moment. Kendra could tell he was thinking. Probably having a battle in his own head. Kendra wasn't surprised he was upset. The Sarah she just saw was the one she always knew and the one she remembered. Now she was confident it was just an act, but still, Sarah's harsh words could be brutal.

"Fine. Whatever. Come in."

They followed Owen in to his basement and the overwhelming smell of Marijuana hit Kendra like a ton of bricks and instantly made her feel light headed. Kendra was no saint, but she never got on board with the whole weed trend, mostly because the smell gave her killer headaches.

It was dark in the basement and a little damp. In one corner he had what was clearly his ID station and the rest of it was just a typical teenage boy mancave. He had an intense gaming setup with four monitors, speakers, headphones, and anything else a person could dream of, a TV and couch a long with every gaming console known to man and tucked away in the farthest corner was an unmade double bed shoved up against the wall.

He led the two girls over to a green wall and grabbed what looked to be a very expensive camera off his bed.

"Stand in front of the wall," Owen said. He fiddled with the camera and held it so the nice lens faced out towards Kendra. "Smile."

Kendra barely had any time to react before the bright flashed hit her eyes which caused her to blink furiously. She was not looking forward to seeing how this picture turned out.

"I just need to go on my computer and type out the details. You should be out of here in less than fifteen minutes. What do you want to be?"

"Hey!" Sarah exclaimed, "You told me I couldn't pick! You're telling me you named me Marge Herburger for no other reason than to provide you will shits and giggles?"

Owen simply rolled his eyes and continued to stare at Kendra. "Name?"

"I don't really care. You can pick for me."

"Okay then."

They waited no longer than ten minutes for Owen to finish the process of making her ID and then began printing. During this time Sarah had found a rolling chair and proceeded to spin herself around while throwing mints up in the air and attempted to catch them. Kendra, during this time, opted to stand awkwardly in the corner and wait.

The noise of the card printer rattled the silent basement. As soon as the noise began Sarah hopped out of her chair towards it and became very off balanced in the process.

Kendra moved and helped her friend towards the machine. The three teens surrounded it and waited for the ID to pop out.

In her head, Kendra hopped she would never have to use it, and if she did that it worked. Sarah, had been using Owen's IDs for a long time it seemed and had never gotten caught. After all they seemed to know each other well and Sarah did reference him as 'her guy', so Kendra didn't have a reason to not put her faith in him. However, Kendra was not in the mood to go to jail at this exact moment. For one, she was supposed to be dead, and two she'd be forced to go back to Wyrmroost and everything up to that point would have been a waste of time.

With a clunk the ID fell out of the machine. Owen went to grab it, but Sarah snatched it first. One looked at the little card and Sarah was on the floor laughing.

"Sarah!" Kendra exclaimed, "What is wrong with you? Let me see!"

But the other girl could not stop herself from laughing to hand it over to Kendra. She looked over at Owen who was red to the face. Clearly, she was getting no answers there.

Finally, Sarah was able to sit herself up and hand Kendra her fake ID. There were tears in Sarah's eyes and she began to attempt to calm herself. What happened though, were many hyena type puffs of air that came out.

When Kendra grabbed the card the first thing she looked at was the picture. Despite the bright light that made her almost go blind, the picture didn't turn out as bad as she thought it was going to be. So why was Sarah laughing so hard?

Kendra then began scanning the information. Everything seemed in check. The ID made her twenty-one. Weight, height, everything seemed accurate and it seemed well made.

And then she found it. The name. It was the most bizarre thing.

"Calamity Smalls? Is that even a name?"

Sarah let out a burst of laughter as the name was mentioned.

Owen blushed even deeper. "You said you didn't care, so I named you what I thought seemed fitting. Calamity because I can tell you'll do whatever you need to do what needs to be done, and Smalls because, well, you aren't very tall. I thought it was pretty."

Sarah snorted. "Beautiful, for someone who is about to go and murder people. Good job Owen, you succeeded again."

Kendra smiled at the boy. "I love it. Thanks for putting in the work. I'm sure you would rather be doing many other things right now. We should probably get going. How much do you charge?"

Owen looked down, "Don't worry about it," he grumbled. "I'll be fine without your money."

"Are you sure? I'm more than happy to pay you."

"No, you're going to need that money for whatever mess you're about to get yourself into. You can see yourself out. I'm sure you remembered how you got in."

And just like that he shut off. He turned away from the two girls and picked up his phone.

"Come on, Kendra, let's go." Sarah giggled.

"Bye!" Kendra yelled down the stairs and they walked up. "Thanks again!"

Once they were back on the road for a little while, Kendra became curious.

"Hey Sarah?"

"Yes?"

"How do you know Owen?"

"He was one of my foster brothers."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

It was silent for a period. Kendra wasn't quite sure how to phrase what she wanted to say.

"It didn't work out?"

"The family was nice. They have a couple more kids who I bonded a lot with. I miss them a lot. But I left."

"You ran?" Kendra asked.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Sarah sighed, "It was never going to work out. It never does. Something always happens. This time, though, I was the one to blame."

"What happened?"

"I fell in love with Owen. I didn't want anything to happen or anyone to find out. I didn't want to be sent halfway across the country and get separated from him. Better to run and still see and be friends with him than never see him again. But the first time I came back and saw him he was really angry. So I put my bitch face on and responded the same way."

"You weren't worried he was going to tell?"

"No, he wouldn't. I knew that. Anyway, after that I met Danny."

"How often do you see Owen?"

"Not often anymore. I missed him a lot."

Kendra smiled. She liked this side of Sarah.

 **It's been a long time. I love this chapter a lot. Especially the ending. Owen is a cutie. Sarah's weird. Kendra is Kendra. I hope you guys are enjoying this story despite how slow paced its coming along. I'm determined not to abandon it! Until next time… I love you guys!**


	7. Hey Sisters

It took about fifteen minutes to get to the closet public library from Owen's mansion of a home. Kendra had never used a public libraries' computers before. It was a service she had always looked past before since she had always had a computer in her house going up. Something she now realized she took for granted.

They pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine. Sarah glanced at Kendra with a curious look in her eyes. "Are you going to tell me what our mission is now, commander?"

Kendra rolled her eyes and giggled. "Don't call me that. And it's complicated. I'm not sure if this is the place."

"Come on, sister. I can't keep blindly following you. You have to tell me what's going on."

Kendra sighed, "Fine," she began, "I have this friend who got into trouble trying to help me. I need to find him. I'm pretty sure who took him locked him up someone really secluded. I just don't know where."

"Commander, you are going to have to be way more specific than that. I got about zero details from your mini monologue."

"You probably won't understand if I give more details."

"Try me."

Kendra arched an eyebrow, "Okay, you sure?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Just tell me."

"Okay, there's this guy, except he's not exactly a guy, he's a unicorn stuck in human for because he lost horns. Anyway, while my brother and I were fighting this really evil dragon, he was in the middle of probably fighting this really evil unicorn that went rogue. We have a way to communicate telepathically, and during this fight I tried contacting him. I most likely distracted him, and nobody has heard from him since. They probably locked him up on one of the super-secret magic animal protection centers, like the one I told you I live at, but these are mega secret and really hard to find. So, does that clear things up for you?"

Sarah frowned, "All I'm doing is help you rescue your boyfriend? That's so lame! I thought we were going to save the world or something!"

Kendra sighed, unbuckled her seatbelt and proceeded to exit the car. Sarah followed soon after her. Kendra locked the car and the two entered the library.

Nobody bothered them as they made their way over to the computers. Kendra sat down at a desk and had Sarah pull a chair up next to her.

Kendra pulled up a browser and began to type in a series of codes than would probably look like non-sense to most of the world. It sure had that effect on Sarah.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

Kendra didn't respond. She continued to delicately type the certain combination of letters and numbers, so she wouldn't have to begin the tedious work again.

Kendra remembered a few months after Zzyzx when her true Knight training had begun, and they had taught her how to search and access secret information regarding the Society of the Evening Star and many other previous organizations that had been threats to the Knights on the computer without being traced. She could type in anything and have deep information on any one topic. Type of information that could destroy countries. Of course, there was a limit to everything, but if there wasn't finding the keys would have been much easier. As far as she knew only a select few members of the Knights had access to this feature. Grandpa Sorenson had taught her, and they had both agreed to not tell Seth. At least until he was ready.

Grandpa Sorenson probably realized by this point that it was Kendra who wasn't ready to have this kind of knowledge.

She then began thinking if the Sphinx ever had access to this information. She concluded he must not have. She shivered at the thought of the Sphinx having this power at the tip of his fingers.

Kendra clicked enter and information that churned her stomach churned up, but it was necessary. An informational 'article' from the Societies database sat on the Screen. To find Bracken she was going to need one of the most knowledgably creatures of the age. Someone who she had no doubt knew Ronodin and knew him well.

 _A Leaders Guide to Navarog_

 _Navarog is often considered one of the most dangerous creatures to ever exist. Currently, locked away and securely guarded on an unknown preserve, many people feel secure with the thought. However not many know just how tamable this creature is._

Kendra wanted to laugh at whoever wrote this. From the title all the way to referring to the demon prince as "tamable" made it seem like a joke to Kendra. Nonetheless, she was intrigued and decided to keep reading.

 _Navarog is often known for his disguise. It is not widely known that Navarog has been using the same alias for as long as he has roamed the Earth. Most don't live to tell the tale of Gavin Rose. In the rare occurrence that Navarog seemingly has his mind free from a master, Gavin Rose is all he knows. His mind is wiped (except for a back story that is programmed to be adaptable to the everchanging world) and he has no idea what power he actually holds._

Kendra couldn't believe what she had just read or how it was even was this even possible? Were Gavin and Navarog two completely separate beings placed together? Everything she thought she knew was wrong.

 _To become the master of Navarog a man must take on of two paths. When a previous master gives up his hold on the demon, may it be by death or his own free will, the being will revert to his avatar and will be sent into the world. Once located, demanding his service will snap him out of his daze, and he will be indebted to his new master._

 _However, the second path is the much more difficult and much more likely of the two. Navarog is a type of being that allows for resurrection. Upon death, Navarog is sent back to his place of creation, in a slumber of death until a worthy contender comes along to awaken him. To do so, they must face his keeper. A creature that brings ones' biggest nightmares to life._

 _Once passed, the key to his resurrection is presented. Once awakened his fate is in the hands of the one who rescued him._

 _Navarog's mind has been warped in ways that allows this master manipulation to take places. Tread lightly on your wants, wishes, emotions, and fears. Navarog feeds off them, leaving the possibility of him being and excellent servant, or his masters demise._

 _Navarog's resurrection sight is rumored to be in a place that has always been a hub of people. At the time this is written it is called New York, New York, in the place that is known to almost all._

Kendra pulled back in absolute shock from what she had just read. It was a long shot thinking she could find a connection to the Demon Dragon thing. She never thought she could have him back, doing everything she told him to do.

Kendra couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Gavin Rose. Constantly thrust into life with no idea what was going on. She had no idea who was powerful enough to warp such a creature into whatever they wanted. She definitely never wanted to find out.

"Dude, you're literally drooling. What the hell is going on?"

Of course, Sarah snapped Kendra out of her days. She had almost forgotten that the other girl was sitting right next to her.

"It looks like we need to find ourselves a way to New York."

"What? New York? Why the hell would we go to New York?"

"I found someone who could help us."

"Sister you are really going to have to start being more specific, because half of the time you speak I have no idea what you're saying."

Kendra rolled her eyes. "It's an old friend of mine. I'm pretty sure he knows where we could find my friend."

"You mean your boyfriend?"

Kendra glared, "He isn't my boyfriend."

"Okay, honey. I've never seen anyone care this much about anyone one friend."

"What are you talking about? I would do this for anybody!" Kendra exclaimed.

"Mhmm. Has he kissed you?"

"Why does everyone always ask that? No!"

Sarah giggled. "Once we make this dangerous rescue, I'm sure he will."

Kendra blushed a little bit and her mood instantly turned sour. "He might be dead, Sarah. I don't like joking about it."

"He's not dead. You'd know if he was dead."

Kendra didn't want to think about this anymore, so she went to change the subject. "Do we have enough to get to New York?"

"I mean we're on the East Coast. Everything is extremely close. We probably will only need to fill up like twice which would be like a hundred bucks. Yeah, we should be fine."

Kendra forgot for a moment that she and her mother had driven to Dr. Kalman's office in New Jersey from Fablehaven. They had had to drive through New York to get there. From there Kendra had driven all the way down to Virginia. It would be another eight hours to get back to New York. It would be dark by the time they would get there, which would be a good thing. Less chance of being spotted so close to Fablehaven.

"We should head out I got all the- "

Kendra stopped mid-sentence. She felt eyes on her. She obscurely scanned the building and locked eyes on her target. She knew that face anywhere.

"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.

Kendra took the keys of her mom's car out of her hand and discreetly handed them to Sarah. The other girl looked up with her with confusion on her face.

She wasn't about to be caught, least of all by Warren. She was better than this. She wondered what she had done wrong when she had accessed the website. It was supposed to be untraceable. She was about to find out she supposed.

"Go back to the car. Grab everything inside. The tires have probably went popped, or the engine killed. Somethings wrong with it. Find us another car in the next twenty-minutes."

"What are you talking about?"

"Go now Sarah. If you don't you're going back into the system. Get us a car and meet me in a parked spot in twenty-minutes. Act natural."

Sarah got up and acted like nothing was wrong. As soon as she was gone Kendra felt Warren's eyes back on her. She continued to stare at the computer, but she saw out of the corner of her eyes him approach her. He sat down where Sarah had previously been.

"Who's your friend?" he asked.

Kendra turned to face him, "She got me an ID. I met her this morning."

Warren arched an eyebrow at her. "What have you been up to?"

"A lot more than you realize."

"Kid, you know everything has gone to hell at Wyrmroost. You broke your deal. It's totally chaos over there. Stan and Seth are holding off Celebrant with white lies, but he knows something is up. It isn't long before he takes over completely, and all hell breaks loose. I'm here to take you back."

"I assumed so."

Warren smiled sadly at her, "What happened, kid? Why did you run? Why did you steal your mom's car?"

"You have you have to understand, I can't be there anymore. I have to do something. I have to make everything right."

"Bracken? Kens, how many times do I have to tell you, that wasn't your fault."

"It was. We can stop pretending that it wasn't I have to make it right. If I can find Bracken, then we can go back to Wyrmroost and fix everything."

"Bracken can't do anything to stop Celebrant."

"Of course he can. I stopped Celebrant. If I can do it, he can."

"With that logic, he got defeated by Ronodin, what makes you think you can get him back?"

"I have a plan and it's solid."

"Mmhm, Kendra you aren't thinking right. We need to get you back. You can come willingly, or I can drag you there. So please, make things easier and just come with dignity."

"Warren, I can't. I can't give up now. You're going to have me out of her by my hair if you want me to go with you."

He studied the look on her face. "I'm going to grab you. If you scream I will go to jail. You understand that, right?"

She let him grab her like a rag doll. Kendra had made sure to sign out of the computer. He dragged her by the hand outside of the library. She didn't show a sign of resistance until they were out the glass doors of the library. She completely stopped moving.

Warren sighed, grabbed her by the legs and threw her over his shoulder. She remained silent all the way to the car that she had ridden in with him so many times before.

He opened the car door before he set her on her feet.

"I'm putting you down now Kendra, don't try and run."

Her feet touched the ground.

"See that wasn't so ha- "

Warren's eyes fluttered and rolled into the back of his head. Seconds later the full weight of the man's body was on Kendra. Kendra stepped away and let him fall into the seat of the car. She shoved his feet in after him and slammed the back-seat door. She opened the passenger side door and tossed the needle dipped in sleeping potion on the seat, so when Warren woke up he wasn't too confused about what happened. Then, she locked the car, so no one would get in and walked to find Sarah.

She found Sarah standing in front of the library. The other girl had a nervous look on her face that disappeared as soon as she saw Kendra.

"Oh my god, the car was totally destroyed! Our money was still though thank goodness!"

Kendra chuckled a little, "Did you find a car?"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah over here."

The other girl lead Kendra over to a very nice SUV. Kendra found in curious that the engine was running.

"Hop in the backseat sister."

Kendra was beyond confused, but she did what Sarah said anyway. She opened the door and glanced at the driver's seat.

Sitting way to close to the wheel, with an awkward look on his face was Owen.

He turned to face where the noise was coming from and blushed when he saw Kendra.

"Hi," he blushed.

* * *

 **EEEEEEEEEKKKKK I UPDATED REALLY CLOSE TOGETHER BE PROUD!**


	8. Guardian

It was a solid fifteen minutes of driving in silence before anyone spoke. Kendra heard the faint hum of electronic music coming out of the speakers.

"So," Sarah finally spoke, "You going to tell me who that guy was and how he found you? And what the hell did you do to him?"

Kendra shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She did feel bad about she did to Warren, but she couldn't go back to Wyrmroost. Not yet at least. There we consequences to everything. If she left Wyrmroost and Celebrant was a little rowdy for a few days, then so be it. Whatever mess he made Kendra would clean it up. But if she had stayed or went back she would have suffocated under the pressure of everything.

Kendra needed to let others deal with the fate of the world sometimes and start taking care of her wants and needs.

"I don't think Owen needs to hear it," Kendra muttered.

"He's our ride, honey. All the way to New York. He is going to get confused after a while."

No, he wouldn't, Kendra thought, he didn't have any way to see magical creatures. Neither did Sarah for that matter. Things were getting more complicated by the minute.

"He's one of my closest friends I have. We've been through a lot together."

"Mhm, I asked a lot more questions than that. Spill."

"I really don't know how he found us. I forgot to ask. I'm assuming I was lied to about the security of that website I went onto. I was told that with a certain code the IP address would be untraceable. Now I think It's actually the opposite. They probably put that thought into my head, so I would have a false sense of security. It's smart."

"How did he get to you so fast though? It was a matter of minutes before he got there.

"I'm assuming he was nearby. It's better this way. He could have caught us off guard and we wouldn't have been able to get away.

"Hold up," Owen stuttered out. Kendra could see his hand tighten on the wheel. "Sarah, who this girl? What mess are you in now? Who's after you and why are you forcing me to drive you all the way to New York?"

"She's cool, Owen. Relax. She's just trying to rescue her boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Kendra muttered and rested her head against the car window. Her eyes began to droop. She hadn't realized how exhausted she was. It was barely four o'clock, but the day felt like it had gone on forever.

"Like out of jail?! Sarah!"

"Not out of jail dummy, I'll explain everything."

That was the last thing Kendra heard before her eyes completely closed. Relief immediately washed over her, and she was transported into a blissful dream world.

* * *

When Kendra awoke it was pitch black outside. The car was rolling to a stop. Kendra sat her head up and the skyline in the distance was instantly recognizable to the girl.

Kendra sat up in her seat and instantly became aware of the two faces staring back at her.

"Goodness grief, sleeping beauty. You're finally awake," Sarah smirked. "Where to now princess?"

Kendra yawned and stretched. "Central Park. We need to head to Central Park."

Owen stared nervously at her. "How do you know that?" Kendra assumed Sarah had filled him in.

"The hub in the hub. That's what central park is, right? When people think of New York they think of Central Park, right?"

"I personally think of Leonardo DiCaprio, but whatever floats your boat, sweetie."

Kendra rolled her eyes at the other girl and looked to Owen. "Am I wrong?"

"No," he said and took a deep breath. "We're about half an hour away. By the time we get there it will be past three. Is that okay?"

Kendra deliberated in her head. How early do people get up to go to work in New York? Are there people still out and about? After all it is the city that never sleeps. Three in the morning was still pretty early. It was probably when the most amount of people roamed. A nice break between the crowds of party-goers, going home after a night of fun, and the earlier shifters heading to work.

"That's fine. Just hurry."

"I'll go as fast as I can, but I've only had my license for a year and if I get pulled over my parents would flip."

"Where do your parents think you are?" Kendra asked.

"My friend Tyler's house. I'm over there a lot, for days on end sometimes."

Sarah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms and muttered something about drugs. Kendra decided to stay out of it.

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet. There were some questions here and there. Most of the talking was done by Sarah. Kendra had almost forgotten the heart break she must be going through. Internalizing. The thought of it seemed like forever ago, but, that was less than three days ago. She had run away less than three days ago.

Owen parked as close to the park as he could. This was where the real problems came to Kendra's mind. The park was over 800 acres big. How in the world was she supposed to find this 'guardian'?

"So," Sarah began, "What are we supposed to do now?"

Kendra sighed, "Just walk around, I guess."

Sarah arched her brow, "Just walk around? You are aware that the park is closed this late at night? And that there is security?"

"Well I guess I'll just have to figure it out I guess. Have a little faith, maybe." Faith wasn't something she'd had for a while now.

Kendra set off and began wandering around the gigantic area, Sarah and Owen both towing behind her. Kendra was positive that if she looked back she would see Owen glancing round looking for police officers ready to tackle them.

Kendra had been to Central Park with her family before. They had spent many days wandering around the space. She was relatively familiar with its layout but had no clue where to go on this mission.

After about maybe twenty minutes, the group of three found themselves in a large clearing of grass. Kendra recognized it as Sheep Meadow. She could remember a specific summer day when she and Seth were younger her family had a picnic around there. It had not ended well. Seth throwing one of his tantrums, getting his way and Kendra getting upset. It was not a pleasant day.

"Kendra," Owen murmured, "Someone's over there."

Kendra followed his eyes. There was indeed a shadow of a person standing a good 300 yards away from them. Her gut twisted.

"That's what we're looking for." She said. She wasn't positive, but something inside of her told her this is where she needed to be.

"Towards the dark ominous figure?" Sarah asked, "Right…."

"I'm not going over there," Owen whispered, "Nope, I did _not_ sign up for this."

"Come one Owen don't do that," Sarah said.

"Do what? Drive you and your weird friend caught up in black magic shit to New York and get myself killed? No thank you ma'am. I don't think so."

"Kendra's got things under control. You aren't scared, are you?"

"Hell yes, I'm scared! I value my life unlike some people!"

Sarah's eyes flashed with a mixture of anger and hurt. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Guys- "Kendra tried to interrupt.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean, Sarah. I mean, what are you doing with Danny, anyway?"

"Guys!" They still weren't listening.

"You little shit! You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Yes, I do! You don't understand how much- "

"Guys!" Kendra grabbed onto their arms and shook them slightly. "They're walking over here."

The figure was indeed making its way over towards them. In fact, it only had maybe a hundred feet left until it reach them. The closer it got, the more apparent it became that it was on old woman approaching.

Owen seemed to relax at the thought. "Why is an old woman walking around the park in the middle of the night?"

"That's the guardian," Kendra said as she walked to meet the old woman.

"Guardian. What the hell is going on?" She heard him grumbled.

The two others followed her and within a matter of seconds she was standing face to face with the cutest old woman Kendra had ever seen.

The old woman gave an endearing smile up at the teenage girl. 'I've been waiting for you, dear."

"That's not creepy," Owen whispered. Sarah elbowed him in the side.

"Are you guarding him? How do I get to him? I need his help."

The old woman chuckled. "His mind has told him a lot about you. As has yours. Did you ever think you'd ever need his help again? After what happened last time?"

Kendra scowled, "I can deal with him. I have before."

"Was that you, dear? You had a lot of help."

Kendra tried to keep the woman from getting under her skin. "If I do what's required, I will be in control of him. Not the Sphinx, but me. He can't hurt me or the ones I love again."

"It may not go as you plan."

Kendra was beginning to get frustrated with the lady. "I'm prepared to do what I need to. Now tell me the price."

The old lady smirked, "Very well."

And she was gone. She had disappeared in the blink of an eye. Kendra looked back to see if Sarah and Owen were still with her.

"Where did she go?" Owen stuttered, fear clearly laced in his voice.

"I'm not sure-but you guys stay close, I don't know what's happe-"

"Kendra?!"

She cut her words short. She knew that voice anywhere. Could pick it out of a lineup of a million. The voice that had held her when she was upset. Whispered soothing things in her ears when she needed support. Encouraged her to push herself and her limits.

Bracken.

He was here.

"Bracken?!" She yelled back.

She ran towards him, leaving the other two behind. Could see his silver hair reflecting against the moonlight. How was this even possible? Had he been here all a long? What was going on?

All those questions disappeared the moment she was in his arms. Her heart was beating so hard. She leaned her forehead against his. In an instant she forgot all the boundaries they had built in the last year.

"You're here," She breathed.

"I am. I'm here. You found me, Kendra. You found me."

She couldn't take it anymore. She leaned forward and kissed him.

Her lips pressed roughly against his. A desperate attempt to get enough of him. She was addicted and needed a fix. She never wanted to let go.

After what seemed like hours, Kendra pulled away from him. Her legs still wrapped around his waist. Chest to chest. She stared into his eyes. He smiled up at her, the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

She felt a force ripple against Bracken's firm built, and his eyes suddenly widened. Something pricked her heart and she gasped.

Something warm and sticky began to flood all over her chest. She looked down and scream.

Bracken collapsed to the ground, her on top of him. His hands never leaving her sides. A dagger pushing deeper into his heart as he landed on the ground.

She didn't know if she screamed or if it was Sarah watching in the distance. She didn't care.

"Kendra- "Bracken gasped for air. A tear streamed down his face. His eyes rolled back in his head and went still.

"No, no,no,no, NO!" Kendra screamed she didn't know what to do. The blade had gone through his back. Who had done this to him? She couldn't live without him. Was he already dead? Should she just give up now?

"Get up little bitch. It's your turn next."

She looked up. Ronodin. The dark unicorn. He had done this.

"Did you hear what I said? Get up. Or I'll kill your two friends and then I'll kill you next."

Kendra glanced back at to where Sarah and Owen stood. Sarah's face was buried in Owen's shoulder. Owen stared back at Kendra's gaze. A sudden clarity washed over her.

Not real.

This wasn't real. Kendra was on a mission to get Bracken back. Sarah and Owen were helping her. They had driven to New York to resurrect Navorag. Gavin Rose. He was going to help him.

She remembered what the article she had read at the library. To get to Gavin, the guardian would put her though a nightmare to get to what she guarded.

Not real.

She couldn't let this thing kill her and her friends. She had a mission to complete. The had to get Bracken back. Bracken wasn't dead.

She had to fight back.

With a sob, Kendra got off the dead body underneath her. It took all the strength in her mind and body to flip the dead weight over and pull the knife out of his heart.

She looked up at the dark unicorn with a new flame in her eye.

"Come and get me."

He charged.

Kendra meet his pace and ran full force in his, knocking him to the ground. A new power, a new will was found within herself.

He flailed underneath, almost like a godly force was holding him down under her petite body. She stabbed him in the neck. For Bracken.

Blood sprayed like a geyser all over her. The figure below her slumped.

Dead.

Kendra breathed heavily and rolled off him. She curled up in a ball and began to sob harder. Absolute despair filled her heart.

Not real.

Not real.

 _Not real._

She heard him before she saw him.

"Kendra?" Gavin.

Confusion laced his voice.

She couldn't think.

She wanted Bracken.

Needed him.

"Kendra?" A little more desperation in his voice.

That wasn't real either. The emotion.

The earth shook as he approached her.

She felt his hands on her. Trying to sit her up.

"DON'T TOUCH ME" Her voice boomed.

The darkness of the night overwhelmed her, but she could she the whites of his eyes through it all.

"Kendra, I'm here for you. What do you need?"

He put his hand back on her arm.

"DON'T TOUCH ME" She screamed again.

Not real. It wasn't real.

That knife hadn't stabbed him. Hadn't pierced her own skin.

She brushed her fingers a long her heart.

Nothing.

Not real.

Not real.

It wasn't real.

Kendra didn't know how long she laid there. Panting, breathing, crying. She hadn't lost him. She reminded herself. He was still here, in her world. Almost with her. She had to get him back. Gavin was here to help her. He had to. She controlled him. She was his master.

Not real.

Her eyes closed one too many times and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Yikes. That hurt. Hope you enjoyed :)**


	9. Gavin

Before her eyes even opened, Kendra knew she'd have a raging headache probably for the rest of her life.

She felt a springy mattress underneath her. Curiosity coaxed her into opening her eyes.

She was in a motel room much like the one she and Sarah had slept at a couple nights ago.

She sat up and groaned. Yep, today was going to be another stellar day.

"Do you need an Advil?" That deep smothering voice filled her ears, reminding her of what had occurred last night.

She glanced at him warily at him, he was sitting on the bed across from her, "I'm fine, thank you."

"You're not. You didn't handle that well. Better than most, I must say. Most people die trying to get to me."

"Well isn't that beautiful news. You've set up a murderous trap for people, but somehow, I managed to escape it. Lucky me," She spat.

He ignored her comment and tossed her a water bottle, "Drink."

She snorted, "Did you poison it? How ironic would that be."

"I'm in your service, remember. Can't kill you."

"How unfortunate for you."

"What happened to you?"

She opened the bottle of water and proceeded to drink half of it. Not a good idea, she realized after. She couldn't remember the last time she ate. Her stomach began to bubble.

"Things happen. People change."

"I just never thought it would happen to you."

She glared at him, "Oh yeah? You had me figured out didn't you."

He stayed silent. Had nothing to say she assumed.

"You want to know what happened? You. You and all these other goddamned creatures that can't seem to leave me alone. And whatever gods decided to put the weight of the world in the hands of a sixteen-year-old girl and then take away the only person who ever understood and cared about her. That's what fucking happened, asshole. Are you happy? I'm completely and utterly destroyed. Is that what you wanted?!"

"Why did you look for me? I'm assuming the reason wasn't to yell at me and blame me for your life going to shit."

"No," she looked down, "but you do have to admit you contributed."

"Kendra." He growled.

She chuckled darkly, "Where are Owen and Sarah?"

He tapped his chin and looked back over at her. "Sarah's in the shower. We saw you stirring, so I had Owen go out and grab you and the rest of us something to eat at the shopping center across the street. Hopefully he brings something good back."

It took a moment for Kendra to comprehend what he was saying. What had happened last night after she had passed out? Sarah and Owen followed Gavin back to this motel, or did he follow them? Owen just did what he asked without question? Sarah felt comfortable enough to take a shower with a stranger in the next room?

"What time is it?" she asked.

"About 9."

"At night?"

"No, in the morning."

Kendra was confused. It felt like she was asleep for way more than a couple hours. The confusion must have been written all over her face because Gavin said, "You've been asleep for over a day. I was starting to worry that you weren't going to wake up."

"What have you guys been doing? How'd we get here?"

"Well," he began, "After you cried yourself to sleep,"

Kendra couldn't help but blush.

"I got caught up on what happened. You're going to have to fully fill me in, if you think I'm going to be any help by the way. After getting acquainted with Sarah and Owen, I convinced him to let me drive his car here."

Kendra wondered to herself how that conversation went. With little amount of time Kendra had spent with Owen, she had gotten the sense that he was very protective with his stuff. Then something clicked in her brain.

"Where is 'here' exactly."

"Phoenix."

Kendra was silenced. He had said she was asleep for a little over a day, but that was still not enough time for them to drive to Phoenix from New York. Factoring in stops, to eat, rest, and bathroom breaks, that journey was typically well over three days.

"Being me does has some advantages," Gavin said, somehow reading her mind. "I've been around a very long time. Know my way around. How to hide myself. How to not get caught. I may have slipped something to Sarah and Owen to put them to sleep as well. Just to keep from unnecessary stops. We were here in about fifteen hours."

Kendra couldn't help but remember their journey to the Lost Mesa preserve. That had only been a couple years ago. She still had been excited about this new world she had discovered back then. Had she really changed that much since then? She couldn't believe that.

A trip down memory lane didn't put a smile on her face. She wanted to get out of this motel room. She wanted to get away from him. Just for a moment, before she'd be stuck with him for who knew how long.

Kendra needed a drink.

The rest of the day was a blur. Owen came back with some barely edible gas station donuts and Sarah got out of the shower. Kendra picked at her food. She wasn't very hungry. After last night, she wasn't sure if she would be for a long time.

They mostly sat in silence the rest of the day. Sarah and Owen watched TV and bantered almost all day. Gavin had Owen pick him up a newspaper at the gas station and seemed to be catching up on the time he missed. Kendra had resigned to laying in the bed, not really there. Not where it counted, just existing.

Barely.

When the clock struck 6 she decided it was time to get up. She went to the bathroom without a word. She turned the shower on and stripped. Stepping under the hot water was pure bliss. Kendra was more of a shower a day kind of girl, and by that point it had been well over three days since she showered.

There was a gas station across the street. That's where Owen had gotten the disgusting donuts. It was worth a try.

She had to be careful, she told herself. If she was caught, for stealing, or underage drinking, it was over for her. And Sarah for that matter.

She could do this. She could get away with something this small. She was Kendra Sorenson, kickass heroine, who just needed her fix.

She finished up in the shower, savoring it up until the last second. She dried herself off and put on some fresh clothes before solidifying her plan.

She exited the bathroom. Sarah and Owen were laying one of the beds with their backs to each other. Both were separately on their phones. Gavin was on the floor. Dead asleep.

She grabbed the ice bucket. "I'm going to go get some ice. Maybe explore a little. I'll be back in a couple minutes. If he wakes up tell him to take the bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

Sarah sat up. "Oh okay. Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, I'm okay. I'll be right back."

She left the room and was greeting by the outside air. She sat the ice bucket down by a potted fern and went on her way.

I took her about five minutes to walk to the gas station. The bell rang as she entered, and her gut suddenly twisted. Was she about to go through with this?

She scanned the building. There was one security camera in the front and one in the back of the store. She wasn't positive she was going to get away with it.

She walked to the back of the store where all the loose alcohol was. She grabbed a couple of bottled shots and slipped them into her jacket. Her heart was pounding.

In the same aisle she grabbed a candy bar and made her way to the checkout counter.

She smiled at the man as he checked her out. She handed him two dollars and he handed her a receipt.

She walked out of the store holding her breath. She was hit by the warm air and immediately broke out into a run.

She made it back to the motel and sat on a curb in the parking lot with heavy breath. She pulled it off. Out of everything she had done that may have been the scariest.

She could have just ruined everything. She could've been caught by the police and arrested. She could've let Celebrant take over all of Wyrmroost and leave Bracken to rot in a prison cell. Sarah could have been sent back to foster care.

She cared. She really did. But now, with a drink in front of her, all she really cared about was the blissful feeling that was about to take over her.

She took a can out of her jacket and cracked it open. Her eyelids drooped as the cold liquid disappeared inside of her. It didn't get better than this.

Two cans in she became overwhelmed with thoughts of Bracken. She needed him to be okay. She didn't know if she could handle him not being so. What if what she had imagined the other night actually came to pass? What if he was already dead?

And then she started thinking about his smile. His laugh. His eyes.

That's when the tears began to fall. She missed him dearly. She wanted her friend back. More than anything in the entire world.

She took the remaining bottle out of her jacket and chucked it onto the ground. It shattered, and glass flew all over the road of the parking lot.

"Woah there. Don't go popping the tires of every car in the lot."

Of course. He couldn't just leave her alone, could he?

"What do you want, Gavin." He words slurred, but only a little bit.

"Getting ice, hm?"

"Leave me alone."

"It's very clear to me, you cannot handle being alone."

"Piss off."

"I think I'll stay."

He sat down next to her on the curb. She puffed out a bit of air. She was not happy about this. She didn't want to see his stupid face. She wanted to sit there are cry. Alone. In peace. She didn't need him to try and play demon doctor and fix her all up.

"I met him a few times you know."

"He's mentioned."

"Really?" Gavin inquired.

"Well he's heard all the stories of you assholeness and has commented on some of them."

"Assholeness isn't a word."

"Well if it was you would be the prime example of the definition."

"When I met him, he annoyed the crap out of me. He was always in my way. Always trying to ruin the jobs I had been assigned. Now that I'm thinking about it you two are perfect for each other."

She snorted, "Maybe you shouldn't have been doing those things in the first place."

"Maybe I don't always have a choice."

They sat there in silence for a moment until Kendra asked, "I read up on the mythology but how exactly does Navarog work?"

He sighed, "I don't even remember when I was born. It was a very long time ago and I have lived many lives since then. Some more forgettable than others. But I am sure that I was born Gavin Rose. When I was your age I was lulled in by a man who claimed to be a wizard. During that period, magic was godly, it was out in the open but rare. There was no organized religion, nothing like that yet. Magic was sacred, and fate ruled the Earth.

"The man took me into his shop. He promised me fame and riches if only I did what he asked. He gave me this black stew and told me to drink it. I was young and naïve, so I did. I drank it. And I passed out. For twenty years.

"I woke up in pain. I hadn't realized how much time had passes. I looked the same, my surroundings looked the same, the wizard looked the same. It wasn't until I looked outside I realized things had changed. When I woke up I knew something was different. I felt heavier in a way. Like something was inside of me.

"The wizard told me he had forged a demon's soul with mine. A great demon who had simply faded away rather than being defeated. The wizard had been deep friends with the demon, and upon his death was gifted the soul.

"He had put me to rest for those years, so my body and brain would have time to adjust. If he would have woken me any sooner my brain would have fried and my body would have deteriorated much after that.

"The nature of the fusion granted the wizard sole control over my being. Everything he wanted me to do, I did. For hundreds and hundreds of years.

"That boy I was disappeared. My mind has been corrupted by the minds of my many masters. All evil, the demon in me has thrived for a millennium. It's strange, because now I can feel things shifting. With the Sphinx, when he was in control I felt it to. When my masters are not evil something in me switches. It is like I'm an offshoot of them."

"You're not your own person," Kendra asked.

"I don't know," Gavin replied somberly. "I haven't known my true self for ninety-five percent of my existence."

"I feel that way too sometimes. Not to the same extent, but I feel like I understand what you are saying. On some level."

"I suppose everyone does at some point in their lives."

They sat in silence for a moment. Kendra didn't really know what else to say. Things had been revealed that she would have never thought to be true. People always make mistakes throughout their lives, but young Gavin happened to make one that was potentially catastrophic to the world.

"Gavin?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for telling me."

He let out a soft chuckle, "Don't go and try to use it against me. I've never told that information to any of my masters unless they pried it out of me."

"I won't."

They sat there again, staring out into the road. It was getting dark out now. The sun was nearly below the horizon. Only a few glimmers of light remained on the two of them.

"Gavin?"

"Yes?"

"Why Phoenix?"

He smiled, "I happen to know a fast method of transportation that resides here. It can take us wherever we want to go in a matter of minutes. First, though, I need to know your plan, and what you intend to do with me."

* * *

 **Finally finished this after six months...Half of its been sitting there for that long to ;)**

 **Hope you enjoy. Leave a review and let me know what you think. :)**

 **Love yall?!**


	10. Simple Enough

They had made their way back to the hotel room. Kendra and Gavin had discussed much of the basics of their plan and then decided to head back inside and get some rest.

The next day when Kendra woke up the sun was already blaring into the motel room. She woke up with a slight pounding in her head, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"She's awake at last," Sarah said practically on top of her. "Come on get up! Gavin has been teasing us with the next step of the plan for hours."

Hours? "What time is it?" Kendra asked.

"Nine AM," Owen responded, "Sarah's just exaggerating."

"Oh, shut up," Sarah said.

"If you want to hear the plan sooner, give the girl some space. Let herl properly wake up," Gavin spoke.

Sarah dramatically sighed and went to the couch and slumped her shoulders. Kendra silently thanked Gavin for helping her get some room to breathe.

She sat up in bed and stretched. Waking up used to be Kendra's favorite part of the day. For a while it had started to feel like a chore. Not today though. Today offered an opportunity for ample hope.

Gavin tossed something on her lap from where he was standing. Kendra looked down and saw a cute blouse and a pair of jeans. They looked to be her size too.

"I got up early and went to the store. I picked out a few outfits for all of us. Owen came with."

"How did you get the money?" Kendra asked.

He smirked, "Don't worry about it."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to go get changed."

It was a mental struggle, but she managed to get out of bed and go to the restroom. She put on the clothes, which were quite comfortable, and went through as much of a morning routine as possible. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, and combed out her hair as neatly as possible. When she exited the bathroom, Sarah, Gavin, and Owen sat on the couch already talking.

Gavin looked up at her, "You could probably explain your goals better than I could."

"Right," She said and awkwardly sat on the floor next to the couch. "Here's what I'm thinking. I'm not sure how much sense it will make to you, but I'll just go over the gist.

"So, when Bracken went missing he was at Soaring Cliffs, which is a dragon sanctuary. Once he got there the dragons overran it, and that is presumably why he was able to be captured. My thinking is that we know he was there, so even if they moved him, it will be a good place to start."

"Yes, let's go to a place where dragons have complete control," Owen stammered, "What could go wrong?"

"You don't have to go," Sarah quipped.

"Yeah right, like I'm letting you go by yourself."

"You guys have me," Gavin said. "I have a lot of pull with the dragons. I am one after all. They respect me. Always have, always will."

"You're not a dragon," Sarah said, "There is no way in hell Kendra would associate herself with a dragon."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Kendra murmured.

"What. The. Fuck!" Owen yelled. "I went to Walmart with a _dragon_."

"Calm down guys. He can't turn into a dragon unless I tell him to."

"Can we just get back on track," Gavin snapped.

"Yes Mr. Dragon sir," Sarah said with wide eyes.

Gavin rolled his eyes. "There is a baseball stadium in the downtown. Somewhere inside there is an item located that let's you travel wherever you want to go. It can be used three times before it needs a new source of magic. It just so happens I had only used it twice before hiding it there. There is one more trip left."

"Why did you hide it in a baseball stadium in Arizona?" Owen asked.

"The item travels with you wherever you are transported. I so happened was in a rush and needed to be in Arizona. I didn't want my enemies to get ahold of it."

"What he is asking is _why_ a baseball stadium. That's like once of the most popular places people go."

"Hiding things in plain sight is a great way to deter the enemy. It was smart, because regular people couldn't see the magical item for what it was, and the enemies don't expect anyone to hide something that important just anywhere." Kendra said.

Gavin smiled, "Smart girl."

"I've had some practice."

"Right. Well anyway on that topic, we are going to have you log into the Knights of Dawn program downstairs once we are packed up and ready to go. Most likely they will know it's a ploy, but I have a strong feeling they will not resist the urge to come check it out. Then we run and pray we get to the stadium fast enough. Either way it will get you off their radar for a few minutes, once we get to Spain. I'm sure they guessed you would head for Soaring Cliffs eventually. This will confuse them for a few minutes."

"It's in Spain," Owen asked. "So, I'm not going to be back at school for my Math quiz on Monday?"

"Shut up Owen." Sarah smacked him on the side.

"Ow." He grumbled.

"Sounds like a plan." Kendra said.

They all began packing up the few things they owned and collected all the freebies the motel had to offer. Toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, along with all the other items Gavin and Owen had bought at Walmart earlier. They had clothes and cookies to last for a week.

They all headed downstairs and split up into two groups. Gavin and Sarah headed to check out and start the car, while Kendra headed towards the business center and Owen opted to follow her.

"You don't have to be scared of him, you know. He's not going to hurt you," Kendra said.

"How do you know that. What did you call him yesterday? A Prince of Demons?"

"He's under my control. I didn't go through all that shit the other day for him not to be."

They headed into the business center and Kendra got to work quickly. After many various passwords and trying to get on the website she concluded they had deactivated her account. Kendra knew the Knights still could track whoever tried to get onto their database though.

"We better hurry," She told Owen.

The two briskly made their way out to the running car where Gavin sat in the driver's seat and Sarah in the passengers. Every item was packed into the trunk. As soon as Owen and Kendra got in they were flying out of the motel parking lot and onto the highway.

"Um this is my mom's, so if you could be careful I would greatly appreciate it," Owen stuttered.

They drove in the SUV for not even twenty minutes before Gavin pulled into the stadium.

"We aren't abandoning the car, right? Oh my gosh my mom is going to kill me!"

"Calm down Owen. The car is coming with," Gavin said, "You two stay here and keep watch. Sarah give me your phone. Owen text us if you see anything suspicious going on that could put us I danger. Kendra and I are going inside to grab the item and come right back."

He turned to Kendra, "Do you have any walrus butter, milk, anything of the sort? They probably need to see the truth to help us properly."

"My mom had some in her car," Kendra said as she dug around in the backpack she had been carrying around for the past few days. "Here," She said as she pulled out a square tubberware that contained a slippery substance. "Eat a little bit of this. You won't notice anything difference unless you have to. If you see anything strange, text us right away."

"Right, Sarah, let's eat the unknown substance the strangers are giving us," Owen commented.

"Kendra is not a stranger. I trust her," Sarah affirmed and put the walrus butter in her mouth. "Tastes like nothing."

Owen did the same. From the look on his face, it looked like he was prepared to fake gag, but once he put the butter in his mouth it subsided, and he went back to looking his usual anal self.

"We will be right back," Gavin said. He began to head towards the stadium. Kendra followed after him.

"What is this 'item' you keep talking about?" Kendra asked him.

"It's an ordinary object. It looks like a sack, but once activated it will expand and transport as many things that go through to a new place."

"So what are you planning? To drive the entire car through to Spain?"

He smiled down at her. "Pretty much."

"How do you know it's still going to be where you left it?"

"I don't. But I'm hopeful."

They reached the front of the stadium and Gavin tried the door. Of course, it was locked as it was the middle of the day. Oh, also, it was months away from baseball season.

"You weren't planning on just walking in the front door, were you?" She asked.

"I was actually." He tried a door a few feet away and to Kendra's annoyance, it was open.

"After you," he smirked.

Kendra rolled her eyes and walked into the stadium. It was bare. Kendra had never been inside a stadium without the rowdiness of the people, players, music, food, candy, and every of aspect that makes sports games such a unique experience. It was rather strange.

Gavin stepped inside, and the door closed behind him. The shut echoed throughout the building.

"All that's left to do is not get caught. This way," he said.

He set off at a brisk pace, Kendra right on his heels. Where she may have used to struggled to keep up, she had no issues anymore. The Kendra from their Wyrmroost and Lost Mesa days was gone. Keeping up to speed with anyone with legs almost double the length of hers was a piece of cake now.

"They left a door wide open. They were asking for it," Kendra commented and received a snort from Gavin.

After about five minutes of walking around the large stadium Gavin grabbed her abruptly by the arm and pulled her into a nearby hallway. Kendra didn't make a sound. She peaked out from the wall and saw a very familiar man walking down the stadium where her and Gavin had been walking moments before.

As soon as he was out of there sight Kendra let out a heavy breath and turned to Gavin.

"He's a Knight. I've seen him at a few gatherings before."

Gavin let out an intense curse word, "They must have had someone dispatched nearby. I don't know how they tracked us here though. We have to hurry. Hopefully he didn't bother Sarah and Owen."

He took her hand and they slowly rounded the corner, checking to make sure no one was near. He then broke out into a jog and Kendra adjusted her speed to match. Gavin keep glancing up at the signs of the food stores. Kendra assumed he had hidden it somewhere in one of them.

"Where so close, I know it." He muttered.

Less than two minutes later they both stopped in their tracks. Standing right in front of a Humphrey Hotdogs sign was the Knight of Dawn they had seen roaming around earlier.

"Well, well, well look what the cat dragged in," the man smirked, "Finally caught. You managed five days on us, I'll give you that, but its time to go home now princess."

"Right," Kendra began, "I managed to trick a grown man by myself just three days ago. Now there is two of us. What are your chances?"

The mans smile faded, "I'm not your friend. Warren's emotions where clouded. Stan warned me the demon may be with you. You have thoroughly disappointed him and the entire organization."

Gavin snorted, giving his first ounce of thought into the conversation, "This is all dramatics. They wouldn't send one guy out to stop us. You're here for information and I'm sorry you aren't going to get any. Move aside and nobody gets hurt."

The guy shifted his feet, "You don't make the demands here. You are an enemy of The Knights of Dawn. Once you're caught you will be detained for the rest of your life."

He smirked, "That's what they said last time."

The man was suddenly on the ground. It took Kendra a moment to realize that Gavin had kicked his legs out from under him. Gavin moved away from the groaning man and towards the garage that covered the Humphrey Hotdogs and began picking at the lock. She walked over to the man who was beginning to get up. She kicked him in a very sensitive part and he fell back down with a squeak.

"Just stay down. It's easier on everyone."

Gavin undid the lock in only a few moments and the slid the garage up. He made his way over to a dark wooden cabinet resting on the left-most corner of the tiny shop, opened it and grabbed out a sack-like object. Exactly how he described it. There was a tie wrapped around the back keeping it closed.

Gavin tossed her the bag and proceeded to lock up the hotdog shop.

"What should we do with him?" she gestured towards the man who was still moaning on the floor.

Gavi reached into his pocket and pulled out, to her surprise, some of her sleeping needles she thought she had left in the car.

"You went through my stuff?" she accused.

"Of course," he replied.

The man whimpered as the two walked back towards him.

"You two are so messed up."

"You don't know the half of it," Kendra said.

Gavin bent down and stuck the needle in the man's arm. He eyes drooped immediately and he was fast asleep.

Kendra couldn't help but feel a little bad. The man was a Knight of Dawn, an organization she belonged to. Well she probably didn't anymore, but all the same. He was one of her own. He was only doing the job he was assigned. Kendra could understand that all too well.

She couldn't linger on this too much. She had made it this far, she wasn't giving up now.

"Let's go," Gavin said.

Less then ten minutes later the two were outside with Owen's van in sight. Kendra was curious to see if the man had bothered them at all.

When Sarah saw them approaching the car her eyes lite up and she unlocked the door. Gavin climbed back into the driver's seat and Kendra in the back still holding onto the sack.

"We saw a car drive into the lot, so we left for a few minutes. Sorry I didn't text you. Were there any problems?" Sarah asked nervously.

Kendra smiled, "A minor one, but it's good you guys left. We might have been out a car if you hadn't."

"Good job guys," Gavin affirmed.

"So how does that thing work?" Owen asked glaring at the sack in Kendra's arms.

"I'm going to untie the top of it, a black hole thing is going to appear, and we are going to drive through it."

"Sounds simple enough," Sarah said.

"Sure, let's use my mom's car to drive through a black hole," Owen muttered.

"Hand me the sack Kendra," she did just that, "Okay I'm going to go open it. Once I get back in the car I need all thoughts to be on Madrid, Spain. If they aren't, thing will get dangerous real fast. Understand?"

They nodded.

"Good."

Gavin got out of the car and opened the sack. A gust of wind resulted, and the car began to shake. A truck sized hole appeared in front of them that seemed to magnetically inch the car towards it.

"Think Madrid guys!" Kendra shouted over the wind.

Kendra could see Gavin struggling to get back in the car. He managed though, and as soon as he was safely inside, he put the car in drive and they were speeding towards the black portal in front of them.

* * *

 **Ten chapter in two years! What a busy two years it has been!**

 **Thank you for reading and staying with this story! Two years or two days it means the world :)**


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